Truth Commission Fallacies Part 2

To build support for his proposed "Truth Commission" (see BushTruthCommission.com) Senate Judiciary chair Pat Leahy (D-VT) offers more fallacies. (Senator Leahy's staff has not replied to my phone/email requests to answer the questions I posed yesterday.)

During the past several years, this country has been divided as deeply as it has been at any time in our history since the Civil War...

In this week when we begin commemorating the Lincoln bicentennial, there is need, again, "to bind up the nation's wounds."...  

Rather than vengeance, we need a fair-minded pursuit of what actually happened...

A truth and reconciliation commission would be tasked with seeking answers. It would provide Congress and the American people with a shared understanding of the failures of the recent past, so we do not repeat them in the future. 

Fallacy #7: America is deeply divided.

That's absurd. A deeply divided country would be angrily fighting with weapons and/or words. There is absolutely no political violence in America today - zero. That is in obvious contrast to the Civil War (both on the battlefields and in big cities), to the labor battles of the 1930's, and to the Vietnam War battles of the 1960's.

Nor is our country deeply divided along partisan lines. Democrats have won the last two elections by sweeping majorities, and President Obama has overwhelming support. The truth is that America is more united than at any time since the aftermath of 9/11.

Fallacy #8: America has "wounds to heal."

The wounds that need healing are those resulting from George Bush's repeated acts of violence against our laws and our Constitution. The tried-and-true remedy for criminal actions is prosecution.

Fallacy #9: A desire for prosecution is a desire for "vengeance."

That's also absurd. Since when is a simple request to enforce the law an act of "vengeance"? Is every complaint to every prosecutor an act of "vengeance"?

"Vengeance" would be a demand for Bush to be hanged - like Bush's demand for the hanging of Saddam Hussein.

Fallacy #10: A prosecution is not a "fair-minded pursuit."

In America, prosecutors take enormous pride in their fair-mindedness. The only exceptions were the corrupt partisan prosecutors appointed by George Bush. Obviously we adamantly reject a corrupt prosecution like that.

Fallacy #11: "Truth" and "Reconciliation" go hand-in-hand.

The criminals who need to be investigated will never tell the truth voluntarily. And if the truth of their crimes is exposed despite their fierce opposition, they will never reconcile with those who expose it.

Fallacy #12: A "Truth Commission" will produce a "shared understanding."

How can there be a "shared understanding" of torture? The Bush Administration adamantly believes it produced "good information" and "saved American lives." Everyone else knows it produced "bad information" and also helped Al Qaeda recruit terrorists to kill hundreds or thousands of American soldiers.

Fallacy #12: A "Truth Commission" will make sure we do not repeat Bush's crimes in the future.

To quote the NRA, misunderstandings don't cause crimes - criminals do. The only way to end criminal actions is to put criminals in jail - both for punishment of past criminals and deterrence for future criminals.